Once Upon A Time The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...

Thought it would be interesting to post about the history of Macy's Parade, even though I am late for Thanksgiving or shall I say early?. The tradition of the paradestarted in 1924! In a few years, that'll be a century. Wow.

The first parade was originally called "Macy’s Christmas Parade". The name was changed the following year to "Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade”. Among other interesting historical data, is that there used to be animals in the parades. But that tradition ceased in 1927 out of concerns for children who might be afraid of them. So, instead of animals the Tony Sarg's giant balloons appeared for the first time. The first balloons characters were Felix the Cat, the Dragon, the Elephant, and the Toy Soldier. It's amazing how far the balloons tradition has become.

The original reason for the Parade was to promote the store. It was started by the company's executives, and was well welcomed by the employees who participated in the staging.

History in this site is great, but I really wish that there were more images, especially from the earlier days.

More here at:

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
http://www.wm.edu/amst/370/2005F/sp4/home.htm


If you do want to see more pictures, check them here. It's also a cool site to learn more about the history of this tradition.

NYC Tourist's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade History
http://www.nyctourist.com/macys_history1.htm/a>